Pipe cleaning machine



Aug. 27, 1935. B. COLCHENSKY PIPE CLEANING MACHINE Filed Dec. 17, 1934 2Sheets-Sheet l Aug 27 B. L CO LCHENS PIPE C-LEANING MACHINE Filed D ec.17, 1934 2 Sh etS-She t \iiil Patented Aug. 27, 1935 PIPE CLEANINGMACHINE Ben L. Colchensky, Ohmulgee, Okla minor to New Deal SpecialtyCompany, Inc., Okmulgee, kla., a corporation of Oklahoma ApplicationDecember 17, 1934, Serial No. 757,927

9 Claims.

This invention relates to a pipe cleaning machine and. is an improvementover copending application, No. 710,362. It is an'object of theinvention to provide a machine of this character which will moresatisfactorily, more quickly, and

efliciently, remove dirt, rust, scale or other foreign accumulation fromtheexterior surface of a p n prmhg A ,1. ,J

Another object of the invention is to provide a pipe cleaning machinewhich can be operated with safety and which can be set and a pipe passedthrough and cleaned without the attention of an attendant. ehAriotlir'object 'of the invention is to provide a 5 machine of simpleand inexpensive construction,

which can be easily transported, which is constructed to be adjusted toaccommodate pipe of various sizes and having selective single and dualrollers designed to perform a double function of both guiding andcleaning the pipe in its passage through the machine.

A further object of the invention is to provide cleaning elements havingcutting blades which can be easily detached and replaced in the field.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the followingdescription taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, whereinFig; 1 is a side elevation illustrating one application of theinvention;

Fig. 2, a front elevation;

Fig. 3, a perspective taken from the rear, and

Fig. 4, a perspective from the front.

Referring to the drawings a frame H! is formed of uprights and crossmembers of angle iron or other construction. On the frame ID a pair ofcutting elements H are mounted on parallel ShaftYTYTEiiHTYIffifig elnei'it s havlfig parallel removable cutting blades |3 fastened in placeby a pair of bolts M at each end of each blade. Each of the cuttingelements is provided with a sprocket l5 driven by a chain I6 from asprocket ll mounted on a drive shaft driven from a source of power (notshown) by means of the pulley 9. When the pulley I9 is driven thecutting elements I l are both rotated in the same direction so thata'pipe or other substantially cylindrical body 20 resting upon the uppersurface of the cutting element in contact with the same will be rotated.

In order to maintain the work, that is, pipe 20 in contact with thecutting elements and exert sufficient pressure against the pipe to causeit to be properly cleaned, an adjustable lever or presser bar 2| isprovided. The lever 2| is formed of spaced side bars and carries a pairof guiding and cleaning rollers 22 on one side and a single, slightlysmaller guiding and cleaning roller 23 on its o her side or disposedopposite the guide rollers 22. The guide rollers 22 are supported by abracket 24 and the guide roller 23 is supported by a bracket 25, thebrackets 24 and 25 being attached to the spaced side bars which form thepresser bar 2|. The rollers 22 and 23 are mountedto rotate on spindles26 and 2land are grooved to cause the pipe being cleaned to be fedthrough the machine more quickly.

When a large pipe is being cleaned it will be rotated by the cuttingelements I and the rollers 22 will bear against the pipe and guide thesame.

TIiseTollersJkwillalsmpgm the pipe against [A the rotating cuttingelementmeh'oilersdl will not onlyguide the pipe and press the sameagainstthe cooperating cutting elements but will perform a cleaningaction. If a small pipe is being cleaned the roller 23 will engage thepipe and perform a similar dual function such as that just described.

In order to cause the pipe to travel through the machine, the guidingrollers which are normally disposed parallel to the cutting, rollers IIare shifted slightly. Tomake such angular adjustment possible the pesser bar or lever 2| has one end pivotally mounted in a manner topermit the rollers 22 to be raised and lowered and at the same timeadjusted angularly to permit the axis to be changed out of a positionparallel with the axis of the cutting elements II, the latter serving tocause the traveling of the work through the machine in either directiondepending upon the angle of adjustment.

The pair of spaced plates which form the presser bar or lever 2| areconnected at one end by a cross member 28 which is adjustable on anupright post 29, a set screw 30 being provided for securing the crossmember in proper position. The post 29 is provided with a fiattened sidehaving a plurality of set screw receiving depressions 3|. The shaft 29is supported in bearing brackets 32 mounted in spaced relation on theframe H). A set screw attached collar 33 permits vertical adjustmentofthe shaft 29, said collar maintaining the shaft in a definiteposition. A similar collar 34 limits the upward movement of the shaftand in order topermit a limited resilient upward movement a spring 35 isconfined between the collar 34 and the underside of the bracket 32 onthe frame of the machine.

The post or shaft 29 is located at the rear of the machine and at thefront of the machine the presser bar or lever 2| is connected to asimilar upright post or shaft 36 carried by an adjustable bracket 31slldable axially of the cuttingelements carried by the machine to givethe lever 2| a swinging movement about the post 29 as a pivot. .The postor shaft 38 is provided with ,a pair of set screw collars 38 which canbe set at the desired position for the proper vertical adjustment of thepost 36. When the upper collar engages the bracket 31 it limits downwardmovement of the shaft 36 while the lower collar 38 limits the upwardmovement of said shaft. A spring 39 performs a function similar to thefunction of the spring in permitting a certain amount of resilientmovement upward of the shaft 36 to permit a bump or coupling to pass thecutters.

The upper end of the shaft 36 is connected to the presser bar or lever2| by an adjustable connection including a manually operable lever whichwhenthrown in one position maintains the front end of the presser bar inits lowermost position with the rollers in contact with the work andwhen thrown in another position maintains the front end of the presserbar in its uppermost position, with the rollers out of contact with thework.

As shown particularly in Fig. 4 the side bars of the lever are connectedby a lost motion connection at their front ends by a cross member 40slidable on the shaft 36, such lost motion connection being formed bybolts or studs in the The cutters 22 being set at the proper angle byshifting of the bracket 31 by means of the handle will cause the pipe totravel through the machine. When the handle 45 is swung to the left thepipe will travel to the right and when the handle 45 is swung to theright the pipe will reverse itself and travel backwardly or to the left.

When it is desired to clean a pipe of an external diameter considerablyless than 2 inches the presser bar or lever 2| is reversed to bring theguiding and cleaning rollers 23 into contact with the pipe where it willoperate to guide the pipe through the machine and clean the same as wellas cause travel of the pipe through the machine.

To produce this reversal or inversion of the bar cross member extendingthrough slotsin,thepost23 until the'levez u is-brought back into sidebars. The ends of-thec'ross member are connected by means of pivotallyconnected links 4| and 42 with a second or upper cross member 43 fixedon the upper end of the shaft 36 by one or more set screws 53, two ofwhich are shown in Fig. 1, but only one in the other figures. A handle44 is carried by the links 42 which handle and links 42 form in effect abell crank lever for shifting the links from the position shown in Figs.3 and 4 to the position approached by the showing of Fig. 1, so'thatwhen the handle is swung 180 and overlies the lever 2| the links 42 areinverted and consequently the distance between the cross members 40 and43 is shorter.

In order to change the angle of the rollers 22 relative to thecooperating cutting elements the bracket 31 carrying the shaft 36 isslidable along the frame of the machine. This bracket has its upper armextending over the inner edge of the machine frame on which it ismounted and has its lower edge provided with a similarly extendingelement whereby the bracket is'prevented from becoming disengaged fromthe frame but is free to slide laterally thereon.

In order to provide for the necessary sliding movement of this bracket31 a lever 45 (see Fig.

4) is pivoted at 46 on the machine frame and is connected by means of alink 41 with the braQrgt 31. Swinging of the lever 45 on its pivot willmove the bracket 31 and produce the desired angle of adjustment of therollers 22. In order to fasten the bracket 31 in fixed position aclamping screw 48 is provided and a crank 49 is carried by the screw formanipulating the same. A brush 50 is provided for cleaning the pipeafter it has been subjected to the rotating cutters. This brush 50 isdriven (see Fig. 3) in any desired manner as for example from one of thechains I6 which drive the rotary cutters. The chain engages a sprocketfixed to stub shaft 5|, connected to drive the brush by means of thebelt 52.

In operation, when a pipe of 2 inches or larger in diameter is to becleaned this pipe is .placed between the rollers as shown in Fig. 4, thehandle 44 being thrown over beyond the position in which it is shown inFigure 1 substantially 180 to permit the pipe to be inserted, then thehandle is brought forward into its lowermost position as shown in Figs.3 and 4 to bring the rollers 22 into contact with the pipe. Rotation ofthe supporting cutters II will produce rotation of the pipe beingcleaned and this rotation will impart rotation to the rollers 22which'will guide and clean the pipe,

operative position. If the entire front assembly be disconnected fromthe post 36 in the reversing operation and connected again to the post36, the extremity of the handle 44 will extend oppositely from thatshown in Fig. 2. The presser bar or W lever 2| may be disconnected fromthe cross member 40 and reversed in the manner just described and whenreconnected will not invert the handle 44.

The brush 5|! will remove any loose dirt or particles on the pipe and ifa shoulder or union is encountered the handle 45 may be operated to.cause a brief reversing of the movement of the pipe to clean behindsuch shoulder.

It will be readily understood how when the machine is set and a pipe ispassing therethrough, attention by an attendant is unnecessary. Further,when an attendant is present the front upright shaft or post 36 willprevent the pipe from being discharged or forcibly ejected forwardlywhich might cause injury to the attendant and any inequalities on thesurface of the pipe are accommodated or compensated for by means ofsprings 35 and 39 which give the presser bar or lever a resiliency ateach end.

Should an inequality on the pipe or other means break or injure thecutting blades I3 the injured .blade gorijlages camasilyje removed andrew placed in the field by removing the two bolts of screws in each endof the blade.

By cutters as referred to in the claims, is meant rotary cleaningelements of the character to produce rotation of the pipe to be cleanedby engagement therewith, the expression being intended to cover brushesof sufficient stiffness to produce the necessary rotation.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes maybe made in my device without departing from the spirit of my inventionand therefore I do not limit myself to what is shown in the drawings anddescribed in the specification but only as indicated in the appendedclaims.

I claim:

1. A pipe cleaning machine comprising a frame, a lever extending acrossand above said frame and pivoted adjacent one end to said frame to swingin a substantially horizontal and a substantially vertical plane,substantially horizontal and parallel roller means and cutter means forengaging along opposite sides of a pipe to be cleaned, one of saidroller and cutter means being mounted in said frame laterally of saidpivot and the other mounted on said lever intermediate its ends, meansto drive one of said roller means and cutter means, a support mounted onthe other side of the frame from the pivoted end of the lever to movealong said frame axially of said cutter means, means connecting thesupport and the adjacent end of the lever to move the lever and toprotect the operator against accidental discharge of the pipe laterallyfrom the machine, and means to move said support to swing the connectionand lever horizontally to feed the p pe.

2. A pipe cleaning machine comprising a frame, a lever extending acrosssaid frame from front to rear and pivoted adjacent its rear end adjacentthe rear of the frame for swinging movement in a substantiallyhorizontal plane, a connection slidable along the front of the frame andattached to the lever adjacent its front end to swing the samehorizontally, cooperating roller and cutter means on said lever andframe transversely of said lever for engaging along opposite sides of apipe to be cleaned, means for driving one of said roller and cuttermeans, and means for moving said connection for varying the relation ofthe roller and cutter means for feeding the pipe.

3. A pipe cleaning machine comprising a frame, a lever extending-acrosssaid frame from front to rear and pivoted adjacent its rear end adjacentthe rear of the frame for swinging movement in a substantiallyhorizontal plane, a connection slidable along the front of the frame andattached to the lever adjacent its front end to swing the samehorizontally, cooperating roller and cutter means on said lever andframe transversely of said lever for engaging along opposite sides of apipe to be cleaned, means for driving one of said roller and cuttermeans, means for moving said connection for varying the relation of theroller and cutter means for feeding the pipe, and means for securingsaid slidable connection in a predetermined position.

4. A pipe cleaning machine comprising a frame, a lever extending acrossthe frame from front to rear and pivoted adjacent its rear end adjacentthe rear end of the frame for swinging in a substantially horizontal andin a substantially vertical plane, a connection slidable along the frontframe attached to the lever adjacent its front end to swing the samehorizontally, cooperating roller and cutter means on said frametransversely of said end engaging along opposite sides of the pipe to becleaned, means for driving one of said roller and cutter means, andmeans for moving such connection relative to the roller and cutter meansfor feeding the pipe.

5. A pipe cleaning machine comprising a frame. a lever extending acrosssaid frame from front to rear and pivoted adjacent its rear end adjacentthe rear of the frame for swinging movement in a substantiallyhorizontal plane, a connection slidable along the front of the frame andattached by a lost motion connection to permit swinging movement of thelever to be produced by the sliding connection to the lever adjacent itsfront end to swing the same horizontally, cooperating roller and cuttermeans on said lever and frame transversely of said lever for engagingalong'opposite sides of a pipe to be cleaned, means for driving one ofsaid roller and cutter means, and means for moving said connection forvarying-the relation of the roller and cutter means for feeding thepipe.

6. A pipe cleaner comprising substantially parallel horizontallydisposed cutters to receive a pipe to be cleaned along the same, meansfor supporting and driving said cutters, a lever pivoted at one side ofsaid cutters for swinging movement in both a substantially horizontaland a substantially vertical plane, roller means on opposite sides ofsaid lever intermediate its ends for selective engagement along the pipewhereby downward pressure on the lever will press the pipe against thecutters and swinging of the lever in a horizontal plane will cause thepipe to be advanced over said cutters said lever being reversible forbringing into operation the selective roller means by swinging the sameat in a single plane and 180 in a plane at right angles to the first.

7. A pipe cleaner comprising a frame, a lever extending across saidframe from front to rear and pivoted adjacent the rear of the frame forswinging movement in a substantially horizontal plane, cooperatingroller and cutter means on said lever and frame transversely of andintermediate the ends of said lever for engaging along opposite sides ofa pipe to be cleaned, means for driving one of said rollerand cuttermeans whereby downward pressure on the lever will press the pipe againstthe cutter means and swinging the lever in a horizontal plane will causethe pipe to be advanced over said cutter means, and means foraccentuating the advance of the pipe by said roller means comprising aplurality of annular ridges in said roller means.

8. A pipe cleaning machine comprising a frame, a lever extending acrosssaid frame from front to rear and pivoted adjacent its rear end adjacentthe rear of the frame for swinging movement in a substantiallyhorizontal plane, a connection slidable along the front of the frame andattached to the lever adjacent its front end to swing the samehorizontally, cooperating roller and cutter means on said lever andframe transversely of said lever for engaging along opposite sides of apipe to be cleaned, means for driving one of said roller and cuttermeans, and means for moving said connection for varying the relation ofthe roller and cutter means for feeding the pipe, the connectionslidable along the front of the frame and the lever being joined in amanner to permit yielding upward movement of the front end of the leverto permit an obstruction on the pipe to be cleaned to pass thecooperating roller and cutting means.

9. A pipe cleaner comprising a frame, a lever extending across saidframe from front to rear and pivoted adjacent the rear of the frame forswinging movement in a substantially horizontal plane, cooperatingroller and cutter means on said lever and frame transversely of saidlever for engaging along opposite sides of a pipe to be cleaned, saidvm'e ans on the lever being disposed transversely of the sameintermediate its ends and being constructed for selective engagementalong the pipe whereby downward pressure on the lever will press thepipe against the cutters and swinging of the lever laterally will causethe pipe to be advanced from the cutters, said lever being movable onits pivot for bringing into operation the selective roller means. BEN L.COICHENSKY.

